Bulletins

Tim Cook grants rare interview to a Chinese tech influencer

Tim Cook grants rare interview to a Chinese tech influencer

Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks with Chinese influencer He Shijie

Protocol Screengrab: Bilibili.com
In an 18-minute video released Thursday on Chinese video platform Bilibili, Apple CEO Tim Cook said many recent iPhone features were inspired by feedback from Chinese users, including the QR Code scanner and the Night Mode camera.

Both features had been standard Android phone features in China before Apple introduced them respectively in 2017 and 2019. QR codes have been omnipresent in China since the early 2010s when they were adopted by Chinese fintech apps.

Cook also commented on the prevalence of mobile phone use in China. "So much of our lives are on the smartphone and there's nowhere that that's more true than in China. From eating to delivery to banking to paying to your health records, everything is on the phone," said Cook.

Cook spoke with 22-year-old influencer He Shijie, who has amassed over 6 million followers on Bilibili.

Zeyi Yang

Zeyi Yang is a former reporter with Protocol | China. Previously, he worked as a reporting fellow for the digital magazine Rest of World, covering the intersection of technology and culture in China and neighboring countries. He has also contributed to the South China Morning Post, Nikkei Asia, Columbia Journalism Review, among other publications. In his spare time, Zeyi co-founded a Mandarin podcast that tells LGBTQ stories in China. He has been playing Pokemon for 14 years and has a weird favorite pick.

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